Summer's On Its Deathbed
by pancakevampire
Summary: When Rapunzel and Eugene travel to Arendelle to celebrate her cousin's coronation, they encounter more problems than they had bargained for. This short fic chronicles the adventures of Rapunzel and Eugene during Frozen, so there are SPOILERS! I recommend not reading if you haven't seen Frozen yet. Rated M for language and suggestions of sexual activity, just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

"**This is the story of how I froze to death."**

"_**Eugene.**_**"**

"**Okay, well maybe not **_**to death**_**."**

A few weeks ago, but not many:

I trailed my fingertips across her bare shoulders, and she nestled closer to me in response. These were the most important moments, when we could be alone together with no one else around. As you could guess, princesses get a heck of a lot of attention, and it's hard for anyone, even her _husband_, to get alone time with her.

"What do you think about asking your parents about us sharing a room?" I asked idly, touching the short brown hairs at the base of her neck. She sighed and opened her large, green eyes, looking at me shyly.

"You know my father wouldn't allow that," she breathed. I had already known the answer, but I couldn't help asking.

"But, we're married, you know?" I whined, and to be fair, I _did_ have a point. Most married couples get their own houses, so was it too much to ask for one room? "And plus, think of all the things we could do," I teased, touching her lips with my index finger.

It worked like a charm of course; her lips parted under my touch and I felt her breath against my finger. She fluttered her eyelashes at me and purred, "Oh? Like what?"

"Well, Princess, please allow me to demonstrate." I slid down to kiss her softly on the lips, and then –

"**TOO FAR BACK."**

"**But this is the best part!"**

"**Eugene!"**

"**Ugh, **_**fine**_**…"**

A few weeks ago, but several hours in the future:

"We would like the two of you to travel to Arendelle, to attend the coronation of Princess Elsa, Rapunzel's cousin."

"I have a cousin?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.

"Two, yes," the Queen responded, smiling at her energetic daughter. The four of us – myself, Rapunzel, and her parents – were all seated in the grand dining hall for breakfast. I was just digging into my eggs when the Queen had cleared her throat to make the announcement.

Rapunzel immediately began asking questions so rapidly that her mother could hardly keep up. Were they both girls? What were their names? What were they like? Did they have any pets? What was Arendelle like? Was it warm?

It turned out that yes; Arendelle had two princesses, Elsa, the oldest, and Anna. The sisters had never visited Corona and Rapunzel's parents had not been to Arendelle since the death of Elsa and Anna's parents. Even then, the sisters were very busy with the funeral and grieving and unable to socialize. The Queen described Arendelle as a quiet town in the north with long winters and a lot of reindeer.

Seeing Rapunzel with her parents made me happy. The King and Queen were caring and soft hearted, and they adored their daughter. Her mother would giggle and joke with Rapunzel constantly, like they were best friends, and her father was protective of her but always tried to spoil her with expensive gifts. Seeing the change between the shy and insecure Rapunzel that I first met and the confident one I now called my wife was amazing. She had changed so much, but yet she was still the same at heart.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel had been saying something to me, but I had missed it.

"Sorry, what?"

She giggled. "I asked you if you could come with me!"

"Was my attendance ever optional?"

"Well…okay, but I thought maybe you might not want to come," she said, wrapping a short strand of hair around her finger.

I smiled at her reassuringly. "And make you go alone? I would never dream of it! Of course I'm coming with you."

She grabbed my hand under the table and suddenly I was daydreaming again, hardly able to pay attention to the King's plan for us. The Queen and King were unable to go with us, since they believed it was bad luck to leave their kingdom unless it was an emergency. We would leave in two weeks for Arendelle, and should arrive there the day before the coronation. We should pack warm clothes since the people of Arendelle were used to the mild weather, but Rapunzel and I would likely be sensitive to the slight chill. And there was something about a ship…

Two weeks later:

"I'm sorry Pascal, but you'll have to stay here with mother and father," Rapunzel said sadly to the chameleon in her palms. Pascal gave a little disgruntled squeak in protest, but Rapunzel was right. She would have loved for her cousins to meet her pet, but chameleons and lizards were very sensitive to temperature changes, and going from a warm climate to a cool one could harm Pascal. I knew this because Rapunzel had made me go to the library with her to do hours of research. It was boring, but I knew it was important to her so I didn't complain _too _much.

The ship was ready and our two palace escorts were loading our luggage on board. It felt a little ridiculous, having other people do work for me that I was perfectly capable of doing myself, but the King and Queen insisted, blah blah blah. Plus, I was trying to focus on settling my stomach, which did not like the idea of a two day travel on a small ship. Small boats, like a _canoe_ or something, I could handle, but this was completely different.

Rapunzel kissed the chameleon on the head and handed him off to her mother. She placed a hand on my arm and looked up at me with a worried expression, as if to ask, "What's wrong?" I shook my head and tried to smile reassuringly.

The guards announced that the ship was ready to leave, and Rapunzel hugged her parents goodbye.

"Stay safe, my dear," her mother said, kissing her forehead.

Her father looked at me as he hugged her, with a stern but not unkind expression and said, "Take care of her."

"That's my job," I answered easily. Rapunzel rolled her eyes playfully at her father before kissing him on the cheek. She returned to me and took my hand, leading me onto the ship. Once we were on board, I thought, _Hey, this isn't so bad_.

I was wrong.

Five minutes after leaving the dock my stomach was twisting and contorting painfully. Rapunzel wanted to stand on the upper deck and watch Corona shrink smaller and smaller behind us, so I tried not to let her see why I was standing as far back from the railing as possible and trying my best not to see the rolling waves. I tried to focus on her, and that helped until we hit a particularly rough wave and I fell ungracefully onto the deck.

She immediately rushed over to me, making sure that I was okay. "Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly, but I couldn't answer her. I pushed her hands away, stumbled to my feet, and hurried to the side of the boat. And then I barfed up my breakfast into the sea.

After my stomach was empty, Rapunzel guided me to the cabin of the ship with my arm slung across her shoulders and her arms firmly around my waist. What she lacked in size she made up for in strength. I guessed that lugging around what felt like two tons of hair for eighteen years builds quite a bit of muscle. I was too exhausted and queasy to be embarrassed when the guards snickered behind our backs.

She led me to my bedroom – her father had again insisted that we have separate rooms on the ship, and no doubt the guards would be enforcing that – and tucked me under the blankets. She forced me to have a few drinks of water before placing an empty bucket on the ground beside me. With her propped up on pillows beside me, stroking my hair and singing softly to me, I fell asleep quickly.

The rest of the trip followed in suit. I ate only the bread and drank only the water that Rapunzel forced on me, and hated every minute of it. She stayed by my side as much as she could, comforting me until the guards made her go to her own bedroom to sleep. Thankfully, the exhaustion of sickness kept me drifting in and out of sleep so that I could not focus on the lurching of the ship.

On the third day, we miraculously reached Arendelle. With the ship firmly tethered to a dock in the harbor, it only gently bobbed and I was starting to feel better. Not well enough to leave, however, much to Rapunzel's dismay. She wanted to explore the city with me, but I didn't think I could even stand, much less chase after her all day long.

"Go and have fun without me," I urged her, not wanting her to miss out and stay trapped inside with me all day. "I'll pass out chasing after you, and then you'll have to carry me back here. I'm much too heavy for that," I joked lightly.

She laughed a little bit, but I could tell she was still slightly upset. "But what if some strapping young Arendelle man sweeps me off my feet?"

I laughed weakly and said, "Then I'll punch him, and my display of gallantry will win back your heart."

She sighed sadly and stroked the side of my face. "Get some rest, and maybe tomorrow we can go out together. I'll take Monroe," one of the guards, "with me today and order him to protect me from handsome gentlemen, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, leaning back onto my pillows. She bent forward to kiss me on my forehead, then ran her fingers through my hair. When she left, shutting the door quietly behind her, I selfishly wished for her to return. I drifted back into sleep, wrapped in warm blankets and cradled by soft pillows.

I awoke later, though it couldn't have been more than a few hours, to a cool hand pressed to my forehead. When I opened my eyes, she was crouched before me like a nurse caring for a sick patient. She smiled at me, some of the worry leaving her face. I must have been looking less green, because she seemed happier.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me softly.

"Better," I answered, and my voice was already sounding normal.

"I brought you something," she announced excitedly, sitting on the bed beside me. She pulled her brown purse over her head and dug around inside until she found whatever she had been searching for. "There's a glass blower in town, and he makes all these lovely vases and figurines. He also makes jewelry, and this reminded me of you!" She pulled a leather cord with a gold-yellow glass tear drop hanging from it.

I couldn't deny that the woman had good taste. It was pretty while still looking masculine. In fact, the golden tear drop reminded me of her, but I didn't say so. I sat up in bed so that she could tie the cord behind my neck. I thanked her and told her that I loved it, which elated her, causing happiness to roll off her in waves.

"I got souvenirs for mother and father, too, and even Pascal. And I bought some medicine for you for the trip home," she rattled on, showing me the various other treasures she had found. I stole a kiss when she was done, which she gratefully allowed. Since turning my life around, kisses were about the only thing I _could_ steal anymore, and thank god it wasn't illegal.

"What about the handsome gentlemen?" I asked when we paused for air.

She giggled and settled down beside me to lay her head on my chest. "None so handsome as you, my love."

"Ah, of course," I agreed. "I bet it must be heartbreaking for the men of the world to know they will never come close to my devilish good looks." Rapunzel laughed hard at that, the sound of it vibrating through my chest and causing my stomach to clench, but in a very healthy way. "And your cousins will be jealous of you," I added quietly. "They'll wish they could be half as beautiful as you are."

She turned so that her chin was resting on my chest and she was looking up at me. Very seriously, she asked, "Do you think they'll like me?"

I ran my fingers through her dark hair and said, "Of course they'll love you. Who wouldn't?"

This seemed to make her feel a little better, but I could tell she was still nervous. I had never had any family, so I could only guess at the anxiety she was feeling right now. I supposed it was comparable to what I had felt when we met her parents for the first time. I knew they would be focused on her, and overjoyed to have their princess back, but I was anxious for what would come after, when she told them that we were together. I had had no idea if they would accept me or if they would simply thank me for returning their daughter and send me away. I was a common thief, after all, and I didn't expect them to accept me as easily as they did.

The Queen and King were kind and very grateful to me, and after saving and being saved by their princess, it was almost like they _had_ to accept me. I wondered for a while what her father would say when I asked for her hand in marriage, and even imagined him laughing at me and saying that of course I wasn't good enough to marry the princess, no matter how fond of me she was. But, graciously, he gave me his blessing and the Queen did, too. I had never known acceptance until I met Rapunzel, and it seemed that her parents shared that quality as well.

And Rapunzel well, she was just…amazing. I reminded myself every day of how lucky I was to have her in my life. As wrong as it felt to admit, I was almost glad that Mother Gothel had kidnapped her and locked her away in her tower, because without that I never would have met her. Had she been raised a princess her entire life, constantly protected by guards and hidden away from people like me, I never could have dreamed of meeting her. Had she been raised a princess, she'd probably be married to a handsome prince from god knows where and be way out of reach from me. Without her, I'd probably still be a thief, stealing from good, honest people just to get by and survive. I wouldn't even have time to think about a beautiful princess.

"What are you thinking about?" Rapunzel was still laying draped over me, with her arms folded on my chest and her chin propped up on them, her head tilted to the side. In the dim light of the bedside lamp, its flame flickering and causing shadows to move around the room, her big eyes sparkled and her full lips glistened. I reached my hand up to trace the shape of her bottom lip, loving the way the soft skin felt to my touch.

"You," I said honestly, except now I was thinking about her in a completely different way. I was not thinking of the "what ifs" and imagining what my life would be like without her, I was thinking about her, here and now, on this wretched ship, her body pressed against mine with only a blanket and clothing separating us.

"Well," she purred, "you don't have to think so hard about me, 'cause I'm right here." She slowly stretched out her arms, running her hands over me and finally linking them behind my head. I wrapped my arms around her waist and guided her up to me, our lips meeting blissfully. We were kissing for what seemed the first time in ages, since I had been too sick to move and she did not particularly want to exchange saliva with a man who had just violently vomited into a bucket. But now I had my energy back, my mouth had been rinsed, and I had eaten an almost real breakfast that managed to stay in my stomach.

My god, she drove me crazy. I knew there were people not too far away – at least one of the guards right outside the door, no doubt – and yet I wanted her so much closer to me in every way. Suddenly feeling very, very warm, I kicked the blankets off and pulled her onto my lap, running my hands over the perfect arch of her back. Everything about her was soft, her lips, her skin, her body; so delicate and perfect that I almost couldn't believe it. She was here, and she was mine, and that was an amazing feeling to feel.

I was just about to tug at the laces of her corset when there came a knock at the door. Regretfully, she pulled away from me with a gasp and a small, quiet giggle. One of the guards cleared his throat loudly and called through the closed door, "Princess, dinner is served. Will Sir Eugene be joining you?"

She didn't seem to notice the contempt with which the guards treated me, because even though her parents did not think I was unfit for the princess, many of the guards and townspeople sure did. It was irritating, but for the most part I ignored it. They were much more respectful when the Queen and King were around, of course, because they would surely chastise them for it. Rapunzel called back to him, "Yes, he will. He's feeling much better." She winked at me when she said that, which made me wish desperately that we could skip dinner and just stay locked in this cabin for the rest of the night.

Instead, I obeyed my growling stomach, put on some fresh clothes, and followed her out of the room I hadn't left since beginning our trip. The dining room was located on a different part of the ship, so we had to go up a set of stairs and onto the upper deck to get to it. Being in the fresh air felt nice in contrast to the stuffy bedroom, and it was a welcome change to have the open sky above me rather than a low ceiling. Rapunzel watched me stretch and inhale the fresh air deeply, smirking to herself before grabbing my hand.

"Geoffrey, do you think that maybe Eugene and I could eat our dinner up here?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at the guard. Honestly, I felt bad for him because I knew that look, and it was impossible to say no. I also knew that, while her father had instructed the guards to remain diligent, he probably also ordered them to indulge her every whim.

"Of course, your majesty. It will be one moment," he said, before bowing and disappearing below deck.

"That's completely unfair, treating them like that," I laughed, squeezing her hand.

She spun around to look at me, shocked, "But I asked nicely!"

That made me laugh harder, pulling her to me and wrapping my arms around her. "That's not what I was talking about," I chuckled, referring to her irresistible charm.

We laid a blanket on the deck and ate our meal under the stars. Instead of whatever they usually served, the cook had made an Arendelle recipe using local ingredients. For the first real meal I had had in days, it was absolutely delicious and I ate every last bite without feeling sick. We cleared off the blanket and laid on our backs while watching the stars, a slight, but not unpleasant, chill in the air. We talked about anything and everything, with me keeping the conversation going just to hear her voice.

When she started nodding off beside me, I scooped her up in my arms, despite the disapproving looks from the guards, and carried her to her bedroom. I should have tucked her in and left, but instead I climbed under the blankets with her and curled my body around hers. She nestled herself against me with a contented sigh and fell asleep in my arms. I told myself I would leave soon after, but did not resist when I began to drift off to sleep beside her.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm so glad that so many people read my first chapter! I did have someone ask a few questions in a review, so I'd like to clear them up now. Rapunzel and Eugene having separate rooms is sort of a headcannon of mine, I guess? Well, I just imagine the King as being very protective of his daughter and distrustful of Eugene, even though they're married, because he's a dad and that's what dads do. I also imagine that the Queen thinks he's being ridiculous, but also thinks his worry for their daughter is cute. And actually, most royals had their own bedrooms, historically, I believe as a show of wealth. I talked to my friend about it, and she's a lot more knowledgeable about it than I am. As for Eugene's title, I did some research but couldn't really find anything for this specific scenario. I've seen him called the "Prince Consort" in other fics, but couldn't find any information about that online. Keep in mind that he doesn't have a noble background and therefore doesn't have a title. Sir seems good enough for now. Anyways, thanks for the feedback and I can't wait to hear more! Enjoy chapter 2!**

Coronation Day:

We awoke to a loud knock on the door, and one of the guards saying, "Princess, breakfast is served." She thanked the guard sleepily and rolled over to face me.

She gave me a small, sleepy smile with her eyes half open and said, almost in awe, "You didn't leave." But she didn't sound as if she minded too much.

"I was too weakened from my sickness to leave, my Princess," I said, feigning shame. "I should be punished for my crimes against your honor."

She giggled and closed her eyes, burying her face in my chest. "Lucky for you I am not in a punishing mood," she replied coyly, her voice slightly muffled.

"Well," I added, sliding down so that our eyes were level, "in that case maybe I deserve a reward for delivering you safely to your bed." I ran my hands along her waist, feeling the warmth of her skin through her much thinner nightgown. She shivered, but not from the cold, and moved her face closer to mine. Our noses touched and we shared the few breaths before she closed the gap and gave me the reward I desired, a slow, deep kiss.

I was kissing her back, hard, when she groaned and pulled away. "If we don't get dressed soon, breakfast will get cold." If I didn't know that we probably wouldn't get to eat again until the coronation dinner, I would have tried to convince her to skip breakfast. Reluctantly, we emerged from under the blankets and I headed for the door while Rapunzel picked out an outfit. I checked to make sure the guards were gone before opening the door and sliding through it. Before closing it silently behind me, however, I stole a glance through the crack just as she was beginning to pull her nightgown over her head, her long legs exposed. I closed the door then, because I knew that if I continued watching, neither of us would want to get dressed.

Back in my room, I changed out of last night's clothes and into the purple and blue shirt and pants that Rapunzel had packed for me. There was a lot of importance placed on what you wore in high society, most of which I didn't understand. For a man, you were to wear something that stated your status and title, which was very important. Being the princess's husband, I had a certain amount of status, but I did not have a title, so I didn't have to worry about high collars or tassels. Rapunzel had designed this outfit and had it made for me to wear on special occasions, but graciously based it off of my usual style. Still, as an ambassador of sorts for Corona, I had to wear their royal colors of purple and blue, and wear their golden sun symbol on my chest. The outfit, however, was not as bad as the shoes. They were like the tall boots I was used to wearing, but with much stiffer leather. And they pinched my toes horribly. I kept the necklace Rapunzel had given me around my neck.

Once I was ready and presentable, I left my room and waited outside of Rapunzel's door. Her mother had offered to have a maid sent with us to help Rapunzel dress in the morning, but she had declined, saying that she would rather dress herself. Judging from the frustrated grunts coming from inside, it seemed as if maybe that was not the case. Lightly, I knocked on the door and asked, "Need some help?"

"Please," she said, sounding defeated.

I entered the room to find her struggling with the laces of her corset. Unlike her usual clothing, this one laced in the back, and it was nearly impossible for her to tighten it properly. "So you want me to _unlace_ this, right Goldie?" I joked, teasing her by lightly running my finger across the exposed skin at the base of her neck.

She giggled cutely, but sighed and said my name in that lightly scolding manner that drove me nuts. I acted like the gentleman I was supposed to and tightened the laces of the corset, asking her several times if it was too tight. When it was properly adjusted, I tied the laces at the small of her back. She turned around and thanked me with a kiss.

When I finally released her, she looked me up and down. "I knew that would look good on you!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands happily. "You look positively dashing," she said, taking on the tone of a socialite.

I bent over in a low, exaggerate bow. "Why thank you, your highness. And may I say that you look absolutely radiant?" And wow, she really did. Of course, I though she looked lovely in anything she wore, but this dress flowed over her body so elegantly that it could not be worn by anyone but her. I offered my elbow to her, "Shall I escort you to breakfast, Princess?" She giggled and linked her arm through mine, and we walked side by side as we made our way to the dining room.

After eating a quick breakfast, Rapunzel dragged me off the boat and onto solid ground. Though the guards were wary of me, it seemed that they trusted me enough to look after her in town and didn't follow. She'd only seen a small part of Arendelle the previous day, since she had been too lonely to explore all of it without me. The King and Queen had been right; there was a slight chill in the summer air that we usually only experienced in late fall. I was grateful for the long sleeves of my shirt, but was worried Rapunzel might be cold. No matter how many times I asked, however, and despite the light goose bumps on her arms, she swore that she was fine in her short sleeved dress.

Amazingly, Rapunzel had already made friends in the town. She chatted with the woman who had sold her the medicine, and she introduced me to the glass blower and urged me to show him my necklace. I guess it shouldn't have been shocking to me how easily she spoke to strangers, or how trusting she was, but it did worry me. I knew better than anyone that not all people in the world would be so nice to a vulnerable princess. Even though she was feisty and could hold her own, she was small and naïve. The guards irritated me, but I was glad that she'd had an escort the previous day.

The town of Arendelle was about the size of Corona, and was bustling with energy. It had been years since their King and Queen had died in a horrible accident, and so the town was excited for Elsa's rule to begin. Everywhere, people were hanging decorations and travelers from other cities were arriving on horseback and by boat.

She pulled me all over the town, jumping excitedly and urging me to hurry up. I kept up as best as I could, and really, I would be content to follow her for the rest of my life if she would have me. I don't think that my former self could have imagined a life like this. An orphan in a cold, dirty orphanage does not know love, and I had begun to think that it didn't exist when they dumped me on the streets the day I turned sixteen. I was forced to steal, and I was chased and cursed at by the townspeople until my skin grew so thick that their words couldn't hurt me. I did not believe in trust or love until I met Rapunzel.

From the moment I first saw her, tied up in her hair and with narrow ambitions, I had been enamored by her large eyes and soft features, her quirky habits and her easy manner of speaking. I didn't believe in love until I was falling for her beside a campfire, until I was showing her around the city of Corona, unaware that she was the lost princess. I didn't believe in love until I was in it, and I was stuck for good. Rapunzel, in her amazing way, had changed me into someone I was proud of. She had known I was a thief, yet looked at me without judgment and accepted me completely. And then she showed me a whole side of life that I didn't know was possible – love and family and happiness.

I stopped walking and she jerked to a halt as well, her hand in mine. "What –" she began, but was cut off when I pulled her to me and wrapped her tightly in my arms. She didn't protest and wrapped her small arms around my torso, confused but still open. I pressed my face into her hair, inhaling the smell of her and trying to memorize it.

After a few moments passed, she pulled away slightly though our arms were still securely around one another. She looked straight into my eyes, a small smile on her lips as if to calm me. "What's wrong?" She asked me seriously, removing a hand from my waist to place it on my cheek.

"Nothing," I breathed, "is wrong. Nothing is wrong at all. Everything is right and I just…I just had to take a minute to remind myself how lucky I am to have you."

She smiled shyly at my words, her cheeks flushing a slight pink. "And what about me?" She asked. "I would be still trapped in that tower without you."

"Rapunzel, I love you," I whispered, bending my face down towards hers.

"I love you more," she replied with a bright smile, stretching up on her toes towards me. I doubted she knew the full extent of my feelings but accepted it anyways, closing the gap between us and kissing her firmly.

We were jarred apart when a sudden, loud ringing began in the town square. People hurried out from every building, shouting excitedly, "It's time!" Rapunzel brightened and kissed me on the cheek before grabbing my hand and pulling me back through town. We approached the castle of Arendelle, enclosed in a mob of hundreds of people. The massive doors of the palace slowly opened, pulled by their palace guards clad in silver armor.

Rapunzel was babbling excitedly beside me, talking so quickly that I almost missed most of it. She was excited to meet her cousins, that much was clear. Her family in Corona was supportive and loving, but the idea of expanding it to include the two princesses of Arendelle thrilled her. She was excited, but also nervous. Would they like her? Was her dress appropriate? Would they be nice to her? Would there be delicious food at the party?

I chuckled and bent down close to her so she could hear me clearly above the crowd. "Calm down, Blondie, everything will be fine." I knew the nickname didn't really fit her now that her hair had turned brown, but old habits die hard. Years after that fateful day, I was still calling her that, and she didn't seem to mind.

"I knowwwww," she groaned emphatically. She stopped bouncing up and down, but her excitement was still palpable. Mixed with the infectious electric excitement of the town and the visiting nobles, her energy seemed almost normal. Almost.

As soon as the huge doors were finally opened, a girl came rushing out. She ran out into the crowd, utterly oblivious to the stares and strangers. She had auburn hair with a white streak in it, pulled back into a braided bun, and she wore a traditional style dress that was green and black with painted trim.

"Is that her?" Rapunzel wondered, much like the others around us. It seemed from the conversations around me that very few had met the mysterious sisters of Arendelle. Even before the death of their parents, the castle had remained closed off and today, the doors were being opened for the first time in forever.

The girl approached us and Rapunzel raised a hand to wave hello, but she didn't seem to notice and instead kept moving. Rapunzel seemed a little hurt by it, so I placed my arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She turned her head to smile at me before we followed the crowd in through the palace gates. Palace guardsmen led the guests with invitations into a chapel where the coronation was going to take place, and the two of us took a seat in the middle where we could have a good view. Up front, people were busy setting things up and the guests were chatting excitedly.

A man with red hair and rather unfortunate mutton chop sideburns sat down beside us. Mainly, he sat beside _Rapunzel_, after giving her a head to toe look I did _not_ appreciate. He was wearing a white jacket that was much too clean and pristine for him to be anything but a high ranking noble, and the curt look he gave me suggested he had his own opinions about me. Rapunzel didn't seem to notice and instead engaged him in conversation.

"Isn't this exciting?" She asked, bright and bubbly as usual.

"Oh yes," he responded politely, thought it seemed to me that he was putting on an act. "I'm very…interested to meet the new queen."

"Me too!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "She and her sister are actually my cousins, but I haven't met them yet!"

"Is that so?" The man replied, taking interest – too much, if you ask me. "Then am I correct to presume that you are the lost princess of Corona?"

"Yes! My name is Rapunzel, and this is my husband Eugene," she chirped, gesturing to me. At the word "husband," the man's expression seemed to change, though he was much too confusing to read completely. I waved and gave him a look that I hoped said, _That's right, jerk. Now keep your eyes off her._ From his reaction, I assumed it had been successful.

"A pleasure, Princess Rapunzel. I am Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. Regretfully, the news of your return reached me before the news of your marriage. Congratulations." He seemed polite enough, but the deeper undertone in his voice revealed that it was all pleasantries that society expected of him, and that he did not actually care.

"Nice to meet you as well, and thank you," she responded politely, but seemed to know that the conversation was over. I placed my arm around her shoulders and she settled closer to me just as the ceremony began.

A hush fell over the crowd as a woman emerged from behind a curtain. She was tall and slender, with hair white as snow and icy blue eyes. Frankly, I thought she looked kind of scary, but Rapunzel gasped in awe when she saw her.

"She's gorgeous!" Rapunzel whispered to me.

I nodded slightly, and then replied in her ear, "She looks terrified." Rapunzel nodded.

The ceremony began with a priest reading a passage from a large, gold plated book. The Queen-to-be stood there staring at nothing, so nervous it seemed like she wasn't paying attention. She jerked in surprise when the ceremonial scepter and _globus cruciger_ were given to her. After a few more words, the ceremony was complete, and the crowd applauded. By the time we were done, however, she had handed the ceremonial objects back and run out through the back.

Not too long after, Rapunzel and I ended up in the palace for the party. In my opinion, it was _some party_, rivaled only by the celebration after Rapunzel's return. There had to be hundreds of people packed into the large ballroom, so many that Rapunzel seemed overwhelmed by it all. We partook in some of the delicious food at a table with some nice nobles from other cities. They all seemed completely charmed by Rapunzel, but who could blame them? They all chatted about the coronation ceremony and the new Queen, who was standing awkwardly at the far end of the room beside her red haired sister. The conversation was interesting, but I was becoming a little bored of it as I sipped my second champagne.

When there was a convenient lull in the conversation, I stood up and turned to my wife. "My lady, may I have this dance?" I asked in a faked accent with a low, theatrical bow, offering my hand to her.

Rapunzel took my hand and giggled, "But of course, good sir!" She stood and I led her to the dance floor. I wasn't particularly fond of dancing, but I was eager for an opportunity to have her to myself.

We danced for a while and I tried hard not to trip over my two left feet. I was a horrendous dancer, but Rapunzel didn't seem to mind. I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of her hand in mine and my other hand on her waist, spinning in circles and being the only person in a crowd of people that she had eyes for. More than I wanted her to be mine, I delighted in being _hers_. She could have her pick of any prince in the world, but she chose me. Granted, all the princes I had met so far were snobs, but they sure did have money and looks. I could joke and pretend to have an ego all I wanted, but I couldn't deny that I never felt deserving of her attention.

"Something wrong?" She asked, and it was then that I realized I had been frowning. I offered her a light smile instead.

"Nothing at all," I said, and it was true. So maybe I didn't feel like I deserved her. Maybe there were a thousand men more suitable for her than me. I couldn't let myself care. She wanted me beside her, and that was all I needed.

We took a break from dancing to have some punch and stand away from the dance floor. We were closer to the front of the room, where Queen Elsa and her sister stood and greeted guests. I could tell Rapunzel wanted to talk to them, but was too nervous to approach.

"You okay?" I questioned, placing a hand on her waist.

She paused for a while before answering, wringing her hands together. She looked up at me with wide eyes and replied, "What if they don't like me?"

I sighed and kissed her on the top of her head. "Of _course_ they'll like you, Goldie. Everyone likes you."

She smiled a little, but the anxiety stayed with her. I took her small hand in mine to comfort her, and we slowly made our way towards the two princesses.

"Hello!" The younger sister said lightly when we reached them.

"Hello," Rapunzel responded, "Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. I'm Rapunzel of Corona."

The sisters exchanged a look. The new Queen smiled a tight, reserved smile, while her sister leapt forward excitedly and took Rapunzel's hands in hers. "Cousin, it's so good to finally meet you! I was so excited when I received word that you were coming. And of course we were very happy at the news of your return to Corona!"

Just like that, Rapunzel's anxiety left her and she smiled at the excitable princess. The relation between the two was obvious, much more so than the relation to her own sister, who had yet to say a word.

"It's nice to meet you too! Your kingdom is so lovely; thank you for inviting us!" The princess released Rapunzel from her grasp and she turned to the Queen.

"Elsa," the princess stage whispered, "won't you greet our cousin?"

Elsa jolted at the sound of her name, but quickly regained her composure. "Yes, forgive me. It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Rapunzel. Thank you for coming to Arendelle to see us." Rapunzel extended her hand to Elsa for a handshake, but the Queen took a step backwards and clenched her hands together.

Rapunzel recovered from the rejection quickly and turned to me. "Cousins, I would like you to meet my husband, Eugene." She took my hand as I stood beside her.

I bowed politely to the Queen and Princess. "Pleasure to meet you, ladies."

"I had no idea you were married," Anna squealed excitedly. "You two are so cute!"

Beside me, Rapunzel blushed red and thanked her cousin. I could tell that Queen Elsa was feeling anxious from all the attention, and so I politely excused us.

As soon as we were out of earshot from her cousins, Rapunzel pulled me aside asked, "Do you think they liked me?" She seemed happier now after meeting them, but still doubtful.

"Yes, I'm sure they did. Did you see the way Anna acted? Now stop worrying and let's have some fun," I soothed her, bending down for a kiss.

She looked down at her hands, still unsure. "But what about Elsa? She was so…cold."

I felt bad that Rapunzel had been rejected, but there was little I could do to change it, unfortunately. "She was probably just nervous. She's been acting like that all night, you know? And she did become queen today – just think of the pressure she must be under."

That seemed to make her feel better. "You're right. I'll probably feel the same when I'm in her shoes."

We turned back to the dance floor just in time to see Anna being led out by that creep from the coronation, Prince Hans. Maybe it had been the way he looked at Rapunzel, maybe it was something else, but I just didn't trust the guy. I hoped that I was wrong and that Rapunzel's cousin would be safe.

We danced, ate, and met more people for a few more hours before Rapunzel began yawning and I started to feel a little tipsy. I put my arm around her as we headed for the doors, but we were stopped by a palace butler.

"Princess Rapunzel?" He asked. She nodded sleepily. "Queen Elsa would like to invite you and your escort to stay in one of the castle guestrooms, if you so wish." I snorted at the word "escort." It made me sound like some kind of accessory. Rapunzel gave me a look, so I didn't say anything.

"That sounds lovely," she said gratefully. It would be nice to spend a night off of that wretched ship, give the guards some time off, and have some time off from them. Mostly, I was attracted to the idea of my bed not moving every time the water did.

"Right this way, your highness," the butler said, before bowing and leading us out of the ballroom. Just as we had left the room, there came the sound of shouting, and then screaming. Elsa emerged from the ballroom, terrified, and rushed past us, her sister close behind.

"Elsa, wait!" Anna shouted, chasing helplessly after her. Moments after they passed us, a large mob of people emerged from the ballroom, shouting all sorts of atrocities after the Queen. We had missed whatever had happened, but from the angry and frightened shouts of "Monster!" I could tell it was nothing good. I exchanged a look with Rapunzel, who was now alert and awake.

Desperately, Rapunzel reached out and grabbed the arm of a woman just ahead of us. "Please," she begged, "what happened?"

The woman turned to us, looking terrified. "The princess and queen were arguing, when suddenly the queen threw ice at her!"

I felt my eyebrows knit in confusion. "She threw _ice_?" That hardly seemed worthy of chasing a young girl away from her home.

Another woman chimed in, explaining, "The ice, it came from her _hands_! It was witchcraft!"

A surge of people pushed through the ballroom doors, causing Rapunzel to be swept away from me. I shoved people aside to catch up to her, finally grabbing her wrist and pulling her aside once I was close enough.

"We have to go after them," she shouted, panicked. "Something's wrong, I just know it!"

I placed both hands on her shoulders and spoke calmly to her. "There's no point. Everyone is chasing after her and it will only cause her to run faster. Leave it to the princess to talk to her."

"But I want to help!" She protested, her hands falling helplessly to her sides.

"It's not our place," I countered. She hung her head sadly. I removed a hand from one of her shoulders and placed it under her chin, tipping her face up towards mine. "Hey," I said quietly, trying to get her to look me in the eye. "It's gonna be alright. Maybe we can do something to help, but from here."

"Can we at least go outside to see what's happening?"

I obliged, following her out through the castle doors and into frigid air. Judging by the shock of the people scattered around the atrium, this was not a normal temperature drop. As soon as we stepped out into the air, Rapunzel became rigid with cold and shivered back against me. I closed my arms around her, trying to provide some warmth.

There were dozens of people in the open space, but many were hurrying back inside the castle for protection from the cold. There was ice everywhere, leaving a trail from the doors to the castle gates and out into the town. A large water fountain was completely frozen, ice jutting out in all angles like sharp daggers. Rapunzel spotted Anna a small distance away, talking hurriedly with Prince Hans and a few palace guards. Rapunzel tugged me forward, urging us over towards her cousin.

"I'm going after her," Princess Anna proclaimed, grabbing the reins of a horse and climbing onto its back. She left the kingdom in the hands of the detestable Prince before riding off on her horse, Rapunzel calling after her to no avail.

Just like that, both of the princesses were gone. Thankfully, my princess was safely tucked in my arms, and I pulled her back inside of the castle. She went willingly, too vulnerable to the cold to argue. Just before we reentered the castle, snow started falling from the sky. Rapunzel gazed upwards, blinking away snowflakes, before darting inside.

The butlers and guards of the castle were in a frenzy, and the guests were running about in panic. I pulled Rapunzel off to the side and tried desperately to calm her shivering, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. Eventually she simply collapsed against me, her arms tucked against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. After a while, her violent shivering calmed and stopped, and her previous exhaustion began to return.

Conveniently, the butler from before returned to us with two thick blankets and two large jackets, and bowed apologetically. "I beg your pardon, dear guests, but we are trying to get everyone situated for the night. Due to the, erm, unexpected weather, travel will be impossible. The Queen's previous offer still stands, but because of the excess of guests staying in the castle, we can only offer you one room. I hope that will suffice, and am deeply sorry."

"That's fine," I said, speaking up for Rapunzel who only turned her face away from my chest to give the butler a weak but thankful smile.

"Please follow me this way," he said, before striding off so quickly that we were stumbling to keep up. When we finally reached our room, the butler showed us inside and placed the extra blankets and jackets neatly on the bed. There was a small fireplace tucked against a wall, and the butler started a small fire for us, which soon filled the room with flickering light and warmth. We thanked him as he was leaving, and he simply bowed in response before closing the door silently behind him.

I guided Rapunzel over to the bed where she sat with her hands folded helplessly in her lap. I busied myself with draping the thick jackets over a chair and spreading the mismatched blankets onto the bed. When she didn't move at all in the few minutes that passed, I started to worry and sat beside her, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"It'll be alright," I whispered into her ear, even though I wasn't sure what would happen or if the sisters would return safely from the frigid cold. But I wanted to make her feel better, and it was all I could offer. I massaged her shoulders with both hands and she began to loosen up, leaning heavily against me. "Let's get some sleep, okay Blondie?"

She smiled a small smile and nodded slightly. I helped her remove her corset and elaborate dress, leaving her shivering in just her underclothes. She climbed under the many covers while I removed my boots and shirt, leaving my pants and undershirt on for warmth. I hurried to join her and we curled against each other under the blankets, huddling together until our body heat filled the space beneath them. Rapunzel fell asleep easily, already so exhausted. I lay awake, however, able only to watch her snooze beside me in the dark.

Her worry for her cousins had transferred to me, and I wondered what might happen. I wished we had been able to see what had happened, and I wondered if these "powers" that Elsa seemed to possess were anything like the ones Rapunzel had had before I cut her hair. If that was the case, where had they come from? After doing research, we had discovered that Rapunzel's powers had come from a magic flower that had been used to heal her dying mother. Maybe there was something like that here, too? I fretted long into the night while Rapunzel slept peacefully. The guards and butlers and maids were all scurrying about in the hallway, trying to make sure everyone was settled and accounted for.

At one point, voices outside of our door woke her and she stirred, groaning and rubbing her eyes. I stroked her hair and urged her back to sleep.

"Have you been awake all this time?" She asked in her cute, rough half-asleep voice. She lifted her head from where it had rested on my stomach and blinked up at me in the darkness. I had shifted to prop myself up against the headboard of the bed, but tried my best not to disturb her. She had been so tired that not even the jostling of my movement had awoken her, my sleeping beauty.

"It doesn't matter," I said softly. "Go back to sleep."

"Come with me," she whined, tugging at my shirt until I slid to lay down beside her. She sighed and put her head on my shoulder, then pulled the blankets up to her chin. She fell back into sleep quickly, and her light snoring was so soothing that I soon followed her into slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks so much for reading my story! I haven't gotten any more reviews, and I sure would appreciate them. That being said, I'm not begging for them, I'd just like to know what you guys think. A few other people have done this crossover, and they've done it differently, so I'm interested to know what you guys think of mine. I'm trying to stay true to the storyline of Frozen, so interactions between Rapunzel and Eugene and the sisters are being kept minimal (for now). As for this chapter, well… get ready for some drama! I hope you enjoy! The next chapter won't be too long, since I've already finished typing this up, I'm just trying to keep suspense. ;)**

The next day:

Rapunzel woke early, but I slept late as a consequence of my few sleepless hours. When I woke, the space beside me was empty, though the blankets had been tucked back around me to trap in the heat. Still groggy with sleep, I pushed myself up to look around the dim room and found her standing by the window, one of the jackets draped around her shoulders. The snow storm had turned into a full on blizzard, and she watched as the snow steadily piled up on the ground.

The sound of the blankets rustling drew her attention as she turned back to me, running a hand over her face in attempt to rub out some of the lines of worry. "Good morning," she said quietly, giving me a small smile.

"Hey," I answered, my voice gravelly from sleep. In the dim light, her underclothes were almost translucent, and it made me wish to have her closer to me. "Come back over here," I said with a soft smile, "I'm cold."

She dropped the coat and quickly hurried back to me, sliding under the warm blankets. I took her in my arms and she gratefully curled against me, shivering slightly until the warmth seeped into her. I tried kissing her, but she was too worried to become distracted.

Looking me in the eye, she whispered, "Elsa and Anna still haven't come back. I asked one of the guards."

I tried to press the creases of worry out of her face with my fingertips. "Try not to worry," I said, even though I didn't see much hope for them.

She pressed her face into my chest and sighed hopelessly. "I wish I could help them."

I did, too. Part of me wished we had never come here, because she felt so helpless and I could do nothing to console her. I wished we were back in warm Corona, taking some boring lesson or preparing for some event. Anything but this frozen castle, as snow piled up, threatening to breach the windows.

"Maybe they have a library," I said, thinking only of something that could distract her. She froze for a moment, and I could practically hear the wheels turning in her mind.

She pulled back from me suddenly, causing cool air to leak under the blankets and between us. "That's a great idea!" She exclaimed. "We could look for a way to help Elsa!"

I hadn't even thought of that, but she had a point. Somewhere they must have ancient texts with legends of magical ice cubes or something like that. Somewhere there must be a clue that could help us. Rapunzel had already reached this conclusion moments ago, and was already leaping out of bed and throwing on her clothes. I joined her, helping her lace up her corset. I pulled on my boots, but left off the stiff shirt, throwing on the larger of the two jackets and buttoning it up to my neck. She pulled on the other jacket, but the sleeves were so long that she had to push her hands through, causing them to bunch up at the wrists.

When we exited the room and started off down the hall, we were intercepted by a butler. He told us that a breakfast buffet had been laid out in the dining hall, and though I could tell Rapunzel wanted to head straight for the library, her growling stomach suggested otherwise. We decided to have a quick breakfast, and the butler told us how to get to the palace library from there. Because of our late start, however, most of the buffet had been picked over and we had to settle for the heels of bread loaves and a small bit of fruit.

We ate quickly, and the moment I finished the last crust of bread Rapunzel was yanking me up out of my seat. She darted ahead of me as we headed for the library, murmuring ideas too fast for me to understand. Finally we reached the large, double glass doors and entered the room that was full of books but empty of people.

Here I was, stuck helping her research again, but it was much better than having to watch her mope around. We leafed through book after book, finding nothing but losing hours in the process. As the rejected books piled up between us on the table, her hope grew smaller and smaller and each trip back to the shelves took longer and longer. I was flipping through a book about winter rituals, finding nothing helpful, when Rapunzel returned with a book so heavy that it made the table shake when she dropped it.

"This one looks promising," she announced, more for herself than for me. She tried to sound hopeful, but I could hear the worry creeping back into her voice. I abandoned my book to stand by her side and watch her flip through the pages. The book was written in some ancient language we didn't understand, but there were illustrations that seemed slightly helpful.

She flipped a page, and we stared at a drawing of a woman with her arms raised and snowflakes shooting from her palms. Rapunzel gasped and I just stared at the image until my eyes blurred, because this was what we had been looking for this whole time. It had taken all day – so long that the sun was already high in the sky – but we had finally found something.

"I think this is it," she whispered, still in awe.

I could only nod, because I was trying to make sense of the text around the picture. I couldn't understand any of it, however, and judging from her frustrated sigh, Rapunzel didn't either. She pushed away from the table, her chair scraping the floor, and leapt up, hurrying back to the bookshelves.

"See if you can find a translation book," she called over her shoulder, rifling through some books on the far end of the room. I left the table and started on a closer shelf, picking up books, flipping through them, and shoving them back when they weren't what we needed. Unfortunately, the noise had drawn some attention, and I looked up as the library doors opened.

I suppressed a groan when I saw that it was ol' Mutton Chops himself who entered the library. The arrogant prince of wherever sauntered in, taking in the stacks of books on the table and the disheveled chairs. He glanced over at me, his nose still pointed in the air, and was about to say something when Rapunzel called out to him.

"Prince Hans, we think we can help Elsa!" She shouted, darting back over to us. I wanted to tell her that it wasn't a good idea to trust him, but she was already showing him the book we had found. I guessed she must have thought he needed to know, since he was in charge of the kingdom and now engaged to Princess Anna (we had overheard that during breakfast gossip), but I still didn't trust him.

He pretended to be interested in what Rapunzel was telling him, but I could tell he was thinking about something else. I returned to the shelves and listened to them talk until he spat out a forced "Thank you," and left the library. I watched him leave and close the doors behind him, then glance around before he pulled a woman aside to whisper something in her ear. He was definitely up to something, but I ignored him and returned to the books, hoping that between the two of us we could find something that could help us understand the text.

Hours passed as we rifled through the books, and the room was beginning to grow dim. I was about to suggest we give up and take a break to eat when I heard a triumphant, "Aha!" from a few aisles over.

"What did you find?" I called, hoping it was something that would get us out of this library soon.

"I think it's a translation book!" I abandoned my shelf to find her. She was standing a few aisles over with a small, raggedy book in her hands, squinting down at the pages in the dim light. She held it out to me, and sure enough the pages had the numerous symbols that we had seen in the other book with a translation into a more contemporary language that even I could understand.

We returned to the table and cleared a space. Rapunzel immediately began puzzling over the book, murmuring things under her breath and attempting to translate the ancient symbols. After a while, she gave up and said, "It's getting too dark in here, so why don't you try for a bit while I try to find us some lamps and food?"

I nodded and switched places with her, pretending to flip through the translation book but instead watching her bob away from me. The glass doors closed behind her, and I was alone. I sighed, then began to actually try to translate the text. I picked up where she had left off, the sentence partially scribbled onto a scrap of paper. It began, "A heart so cold but," and beside it Rapunzel had begun to make sense of the next few symbols. Each symbol seemed to represent a sound, but some represented a full word, making the translation difficult. I started flipping through the translation book, searching for the next symbol, but reached the end before I could find it.

I was moving on to the next few symbols, which were ones we had already seen, when the library doors reopened and a soft light illuminated the room. I glanced, up, expecting to see her short hair bouncing as she hurried over to me, but she wasn't there. Instead, a tall, shapely woman was striding confidently towards me. She had dark hair that was twisted up and pinned back on her head, and full lips that were twisted into a sinister smile. Alarms went off in my head when she set her lantern down on top of a stack of books, urging me that something was very, very wrong.

"Are you all alone?" The woman asked, her voice low and smooth.

I stood up from my seat and backed away as she closed in on me. Instead of answering her, I countered with another question, "Who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of me," she purred, laughing a dark, humorless laugh. "I am Greta, Duchess of the Southern Isles. But of course, I already know all about you, future King of Corona."

I took another step back, though I could sense that I was close to a wall. "What do you want?" I demanded, in no mood for the polite pleasantries of high society. She was advancing on me, her deep red dress flowing around her, her dark eyes locked on mine.

"Me?" She scoffed. "I want nothing from you. I am merely following the orders of my cousin, Hans." My stomach dropped. I had known she was trouble, and yet it had taken me this long to realize that she had been the woman Hans had pulled aside after leaving the library. I knew he had been up to something, but what? My mind reeled, but I still couldn't figure out why this woman was after me.

I took another step back and hit the wall. There was nowhere to go now, pinned in with a table on one side and a book case on the other, and she was quickly moving in to block me from the front. "Get back," I warned, but I had yet to come up with a plan. She smirked and only moved closer, so close that her hip brushed mine.

She pressed against me, turning so that the two of us were wedged in sideways between the bookcase and table. Her long, thin fingers ran over my chest and she leaned forward. My mind was foggy with confusion, but things were beginning to make sense. Things just hadn't clicked yet, and I shrank away from her touch, which only caused her to press in closer.

I could hear distant footsteps approaching the library as she leaned over me, causing me to shrink farther backwards until I was bent at an odd angle over the table. She stroked the side of my face with a long, sharp, blood red nail, as the footsteps outside grew louder. Suddenly, like two puzzle pieces snapping together in my mind, everything made sense with perfect clarity, but it was too late. Greta had me pinned, and I couldn't move away from her this time.

The doors to the library opened just as she pressed her lips against mine. _Fuck_, I thought, wishing I could move away from her. Finally, I wedged my arms between us and pushed her away, but instead of looking defeated, she only smirked at me.

"Eugene?" A small, broken voice called from across the room.

_No_,_ not her!_ My mind screamed, but when I glanced over, it was Rapunzel standing in the open doorway, a metal lantern in hand and a small loaf of bread tucked into the crook of her elbow. Greta began to laugh.

Finally, I recovered from the shock enough to speak. "Please, Rapunzel, it's not what you think! She –"

She cut me off, crying, "How could you do this?" Before I could stop her, she dropped the lantern and the bread, which rolled across the floor before the small flame winked out. I reached a hand towards her, but she had already turned and hurried away.

I pushed past Greta, who didn't try to stop me. Her job was already done, I realized, and this was it. I called after Rapunzel, but she didn't stop. She ran, her skirt flaring out behind her, and she was so far ahead of me that I couldn't catch up. She stopped at our borrowed room, fumbling with the door knob before throwing open the door and slamming it behind her.

By the time I reached the door and jiggled the knob, she had already locked it and I could hear the sounds of her cries from inside. I banged on the door, begging her to let me in. "Rapunzel, you have to believe me!" I pleaded, banging my fists against the wood until they became sore. And still I banged, at first to urge her to let me in and then to drown out her sobs. I stopped knocking and sank to the floor by the door. I pushed my face up to the crack and tried to look inside, but I couldn't see much in the dark room. I could only make out the dark shape of her huddled against the far wall, shaking as she cried.

I turned so I was sitting with my back to the door. Everything was wrong, and I couldn't spare a thought for Rapunzel's cousins now. All I could think about was how I could fix this, how I could make her believe me when I had another woman's lipstick smeared on my face. That conniving prince, with his stupid sideburns; this was all his fault! I didn't know why, but he had wanted us to stop looking for the answers. Rapunzel was the one driving the search, and so what better way to make us stop than to give her something else to worry about? Something much more important that would drive between us like a wedge. I knew he was untrustworthy, but this was beyond ruthless. But Rapunzel tried to see the good in everyone, so how could I convince her that he had done this? That that woman had cornered me at his orders?

I put my face in my hands as I listened to her cries. It physically hurt, a pain radiating through my chest at every sob, to hear her like this, so close to me but too far to comfort. I wanted to scoop her into my arms, beg her to forgive me, make her believe that I would never hurt her. But she had locked me out, and I had thrown away my lock picking tools ages ago. What could I do but sit here and wish for her to let me in?

People passed by in the hall, sparing me only a moment's glance before hurrying along. I heard people gossip, heard a flurry of activity and shouts as the castle doors opened and people rushed in. "They've got her!" I heard someone say, but didn't care enough to wonder who. From the shouts from the entranceway, it had to be Elsa, and she didn't sound like she had come back willingly. There was a rattle of chains and then the sound of dozens of footsteps before the shouts died down and the castle grew quiet again.

Inside the bedroom, Rapunzel was quiet, too. She had stopped crying, but I doubted she was any closer to letting me in. The new silence was almost worse than before, because I wanted desperately for her to open the door, allow me to apologize and beg at her feet until she forgave me with a kiss and took me in her arms. But as the palace grew darker and darker with night, I knew that it wasn't happening anytime soon.

After a few hours of waiting, I pushed myself up from the floor and decided that nothing could be accomplished from moping around. Maybe if I could translate the text for her, well…we'd see if that helped when I got to it. I kept my footsteps quiet until I was far away from our room, then hurried back to the library where the lamp and bread were still abandoned on the floor. The oil from the lamp had all leaked out, but the lamp that Greta had carried with her was still on the table where she had left it. I found a match and lit it, returning to the table where the enormous book still lay open.

It was late, and my eyes were growing heavy, but I continued on with the translation. It wasn't quite making sense yet, but maybe once it was readable, Rapunzel could figure it out. From what I could tell from the hushed conversations just outside the library, Hans had captured Queen Elsa and had locked her in a dungeon. They had found one of the sisters, but what about Anna?


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: As always, thank you for reading! As for the new reviews I got, well…they certainly were helpful, and I'm sure the reviewer was right, but I did find them to be a little rude. I'm not writing this for anyone but myself, but I did want to share it online with you guys. Sure there may be some inaccuracies, but I have addressed some of them previously and that's that. I'm not going to change it, because this is my story. I believe the age old, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," saying fits here. If you're going to be rude and condescending, then don't read and don't review. If you don't like my story, then don't read it. This was just my personal idea of what happened with Rapunzel and Eugene during Frozen, and I'm not going to change it just because someone thinks it's inaccurate. **

**That being said, I would like to hear some positive feed back! This is the last chapter, and after this I have a few other fics that I'm going to focus on. Hopefully I'll have something new posted soon, but I can't make any promises. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

The next morning:

Just as the sun was beginning to rise, I finished the translation of the passage we had been working on. My body wanted to sleep, but my mind had gained a new sense of purpose and urged me on. I gathered the scraps of paper and left the library. Out in the corridor, there was significantly less activity, but there were still a few butlers and maids here and there, scurrying around with some sense of urgency. I returned to the bedroom and raised my hand to knock, but something stopped me. I wanted to badly for her to let me in, but what would I do if she didn't? If she yelled for me to go away and refused to unlock the door? _She has to come out eventually_, I thought glumly before knocking quietly on the wood.

I waited, but there was no answer. I pressed my ear to the door, but I couldn't hear anything inside. No movement, no crying, no sound at all. I'm not sure why, but something possessed me to try the handle. I had expected it to still be locked, but it turned easily beneath my palm. I cracked the door slightly and peered in. "Rapunzel?" I whispered, searching the dim room for her.

She wasn't in the bed, nor was she against the far wall like she had been before. She wasn't sitting at the small desk in the corner. I stepped into the room, panicking that she had disappeared while I had been gone. Why hadn't I just stayed? My eyes scanned the room, but it wasn't until I turned fully around that I found her. She was curled up into a ball, leaning against the wall beside the doorframe, huddled under a blanket and sleeping. My held breath came out in a sigh of relief as I knelt beside her.

_Now what?_ And honestly, I didn't know. She was sleeping fitfully, shivering occasionally and mumbling so quietly that she hardly made a sound. Should I wake her up? Should I leave her there, close the door and stay with her? What had she been thinking about when she fell asleep? That thought tormented me the most. Never mind what I was feeling, she had to be feeling worse. She had seen me with another woman on top of me, kissing me. I couldn't imagine how awful that must have felt. The look on her face when she had come in the library…she had looked like a fragile glass vase that had been dropped from a castle spire.

I sat down across from her, leaning my back against the bed. Even though it hadn't been my fault, I felt incredibly guilty. If I had just gone with her to find the lantern, if I hadn't allowed myself to be pinned against a wall, if I had just pushed the woman away a moment sooner, if…

I hung my head in my hands, feeling the cool metal of my wedding band press against my eyelid. If only there was some way I could convince her to believe me, if she could forgive me, if we could rewind time and go back to being okay. If there was something I could do, some way to make up for what happened and set things right…

Out in the hallway, two people were gossiping loudly. I was about to go out and tell them to keep it down before I heard what they were saying.

"…Princess still hasn't returned…Prince Hans is worried sick!"

"Queen…awful if she doesn't return…"

"…that monster!"

Things clicked into place in my head. If _I_ was the one to find the missing Princess, if I brought Rapunzel's cousin back safely, she would have to forgive me! Idiotic as my idea was, it was the only idea I had at this point, and my only hope. Yes, this could work. No, it_ had _to work.

I scribbled a note to Rapunzel onto the back of one of the pages of translated text, buttoned my borrowed jacket up all the way, and left the room silently, closing the door slowly so as not to wake her. At that point, the gossiping ladies had gone, and so no one was around to see me slip out. I followed the maze of hallways until I reached the palace door. I braced myself, preparing for the cold, before finally opening the door and heading out into the snow.

It was a lot colder than I had expected. It was freezing in the castle, which shielded us from the wind, but outside it felt twice as cold, the wind blowing through my jacket and seeping into my skin. I tried to ignore it and continue on, and within a few minutes I had pushed my way out of the palace gates and I was standing in the town square.

In hindsight, I guess a plan or a better knowledge of my surroundings would have been helpful. On one side of the town, the frozen harbor stretched on seemingly endlessly. I could just barely make out the purple flags of Corona on our ship. I didn't think that anyone would be foolish enough to try to cross the frozen harbor, so I headed in the other direction, stumbling on through the deep snow until I reached the edge of town. A forest stretched ahead of me, and that seemed to me like the most likely route for the princess to have taken.

I trudged through snow that reached my calves and soaked my pants almost instantaneously. I stumbled past trees with sharp needles for leaves and still continued on, until when I looked behind me I could no longer see the lights of the town. Doubt grew somewhere inside of me, but I suppressed it and kept on, focusing on my goal. Find the princess. Bring her back to the castle. Get my princess back.

But it was so cold. Every part of me felt frozen. My fingers, toes, ears and nose pulsed painfully as if they might fall off. Eventually, my feet became numb from how cold and wet they had become. This made walking increasingly difficult, and I stumbled often. I tried to keep going, however, until my boot caught something and I tripped, falling into the snow.

I tried to get up, but my limbs would not obey my brain's commands. Everything hurt, and I was so, so tired. I couldn't tell which way was up anymore, the sky the same color white as the ground, or maybe vise versa. I didn't know anymore. I tried to think, I had to think, but my mind moved slower than my body, until I couldn't fight the urge to rest anymore. I closed my eyes to the white world around me, darkness pulling me in. A single name echoed through my mind, fading until I hardly remembered what I had been thinking about.

And then there was nothing.

Moments later, but not many:

Something tugged at my mind, pulling me from the deepest parts of the blackness I had been submerged in. Someone was calling out over the howling wind, but I couldn't make sense of the syllables strung together. Where was I? Everything was black and white and nothing made sense and parts of me hurt and other parts felt as if they didn't exist anymore and I didn't want to think at all.

Something nagged at me. A thought, maybe. My body wanted to shut down again, to drift back off to the easy darkness and ignore everything. But this thought was incessant, it wouldn't go away. _Listen!_ It shouted, pounding against the inside of my skull. _Open your eyes!_ It screamed, tugging at me as if to pry my eyelids open.

Eventually I obeyed, and my eyes opened to endless whiteness. I stared up at the sky, or perhaps down at the ground, I couldn't tell which. _Listen!_ The thought urged again, and I tried to focus on the noises around me. There was a rushing in my ears, cacophonous and loud, causing my head to pound furiously. There was another noise above it. A voice? Yes, a voice. Someone calling, someone screaming something above the wind. I struggled to comprehend it, to make sense of the pitches and the sounds and the syllables to for the word in my mind.

"_Eugene!_" The voice called, the sounds finally making sense in my head. That was me, wasn't it? It was a girl, screaming just to be heard over the wind, existing somewhere in this empty world.

The voice called out again, but louder this time. Closer. My brain lifted from the frozen fog and things began to make sense. It was _her_. She was calling for me. She was somewhere out in this frigid world, looking for me. I tried to call back to her, but my frozen lips hurt with a searing agony the moment I moved them. I tried again, forcing myself to ignore the pain, but when I opened my mouth I couldn't make a sound.

She called out to me again, sounding desperate and afraid. But she was even closer this time, and I could hear sounds of movement somewhere close by. _Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._ Then another shout, closer and louder still. I forced air into my lungs, then opened my mouth and tried to yell. My lips were still too numb to form words, and I was too weak to manage more than a small, garbled vocalization.

The crunching stopped as she listened. I tried to call her name, but my lips could only form half of it in their numbed stupor. The sound still came out, and I knew that she had to hear it. The crunching started up again, coming closer and closer until the whiteness was broken by a dark shape. My vision was blurry, but I knew it had to be her. It had to be.

"Eugene!" She breathed, steam coming out of her mouth like a puff of smoke, collapsing in the snow beside me. Her hands were everywhere, running over my face, pressed against my neck, searching for my hands. I felt the warm pressure of her lips against my forehead.

Pain tore through me as she grabbed my hand and struggled to pull me up. Half of me wanted to fight, to obey her and stand, but the other half screamed at the pain and wanted to collapse back into the snow. It didn't matter what I wanted, because regardless of the fact that I couldn't move, she was already dragging me through the snow. She stooped to pull my arm around her shoulders and hoisted me up, dragging my limp feet behind me.

"Idiot!" She hollered over the wind, still dragging me along. "You could have died!"

I struggled to move my lips to respond to her, and managed, "H-had to f-f-find…princess."

"I know," she sighed, grunting as she pulled me through a clump of prickly trees. "But why?"

"H-had to m-make you f-f-forgive me."

She paused a moment to turn her head towards me. Her large green eyes filled with tears despite the wind and the cold. "Idiot," she whispered, but I didn't miss the slight smile on her lips.

I had thought I'd been trudging through the snow for hours before I passed out, but Rapunzel dragged me back to the castle in under twenty minutes. If I wasn't too busy being cold, I might have felt humiliated. As I would find out later, I hadn't even been going in the right direction. So I had stumbled around in the snow, passed out, and nearly froze to death, for nothing. If my hands weren't still numb, I might even pat myself on the back for such a spectacular failure.

Rapunzel pulled me in through the castle gates, calling for help. There was no one around, but as we approached the castle doors, a butler rushed out to help us. Between the two of them, it took no time at all to make it back to our room. The man tossed a few more logs into the fireplace, and soon the fire was roaring and I was parked in front of it with every blanket in the room wrapped around me.

Once the butler left, the silence in the room grew unbearably loud. Rapunzel sat a short distance from me, staring into the fire and biting her lip. I hung my head. _Shit. Now what?_ I tried to find the right words to say, but I couldn't think of anything. What could I say that I hadn't said already? How could I say it differently to make her believe me? What could I do?

Anything was better than the cacophonous silence, so I cleared my throat and began, "Rapunzel, I'm sorry." I stopped there, unable to think of anything else that might help.

I felt the weight of her gaze on me and turned my head to look at her. My heart gave a small, painful squeeze when I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Suddenly, she exploded. "Sorry for what? For kissing that woman, or for nearly getting yourself killed? Do you have any idea –" She stopped yelling mid-sentence to wipe a tear angrily from her cheek. She sighed, then continued in a much softer tone. "I'm sorry, too," she said, her voice breaking.

"You have nothing –" I started, but she cut me off.

"No, it's my fault. I should've…I should've believed you. I just…seeing you with…it hurt so much. And then when I read your note, I felt awful and I was scared, and I didn't know where you were but I had to find you. I was afraid I would lose you." Her voice cracked on the last sentence, another tear dripping down her cheek.

I couldn't help but reach up to brush the tear away with my thumb. Once I did, another fell, then another, and her shoulders were shaking and it hurt me so much to see her cry, knowing it was my fault.

"Please believe me," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I love you, more than anything. And I would never hurt you or make you cry," but it felt like a lie even though I meant it, because she was hurt and she was crying. "I may be stupid enough to go out in a blizzard with no idea where I'm going, but I'm not stupid enough to ruin what we have. You're my new dream, remember?"

With a sob, she closed the distance between us and threw her arms around my neck. She pressed her face into my shoulder and cried, "I love you, I love you," over and over again. It felt amazing to put my arms around her and hold her as close as I could, squeezing so tightly I thought it might hurt her. I may have cried too, but you didn't hear it from me. I pressed my lips to her hair, and she brought her face to mine, crushing her lips to my own in a way that felt like rain after a drought.

I pulled the blankets around us and together we held each other in front of the fire. Rapunzel would later claim that we missed all the action, but I wasn't interested in anything but holding on tightly to her and never letting go. Locked in the dim room with nothing but the fire for company, I felt like we were completely alone together and isolated from the world. I was constantly having to share her, but not at that very moment. Right then, I could have her full, undivided attention and it was incredible. After coming so close to losing her, I never wanted to let go of her again. I wanted to stay literally chained to her side so nothing bad could ever happen again, even though it was an impossible thought.

Eventually, we left the room to find that the entire dramatic issue had been resolved. Just like that, we had missed everything. Princess Anna had been struck in the heart by Elsa's ice and her life had been in danger, but was saved by an act of true love. It turned out that Prince Hans was completely evil and had only gotten close to Anna in an attempt to rule the kingdom. Big shocker there. The townspeople were hesitant at first, but they accepted their new queen and her powers. And she loved herself, ice powers and all, and she and her sister could rule Arendelle together, happily. No one noticed when Rapunzel and I snuck back to the room to burn the translation notes, which contained a "cure" that no one actually needed.

As for us, we stayed one more night in Arendelle to allow the harbor to thaw and for Rapunzel to get to know her cousins better. I offered to leave them alone for a while, but Rapunzel held my hand firmly and insisted I stay with them. So I pretended to read some boring book and snoozed on a couch while they giggled and braided each other's hair and whatever else girls do together. At one point, I awoke to hear them talking quietly. I snuck a peek through one eye and eavesdropped. Is it even still eavesdropping if they know you could be awake?

"What's it like?" Anna asked, excitement dripping from every syllable. Elsa nodded, both their gazes fixed on Rapunzel.

"What's what like?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Being in love!"

Rapunzel turned bright red, but the sisters pestered her until she gave in. "Well," she started, her fingers pulling at the short strands of hair at her neck nervously. She snuck a glance at me, and I closed my eyes so she would think I was still asleep. When I opened them again, she had turned her head away but I could see a dreamy smile on her face. "It's amazing."

"What else?" Elsa asked.

"It's the greatest thing in the world. He makes me so happy. Being in love, it's like…it's like you want to be with that person all the time, and you would do anything for them. You would give your life for them. And they…well I guess they would do all that for you, too. Love is like the most beautiful dream you could ever have."

The sisters sighed longingly in unison.

"I'm so jealous! I want a boyfriend right now," Anna declared, crossing her arms.

The others giggled. "But don't go getting engaged to the next man you lay eyes on," Elsa teased. Anna groaned, and they all laughed, but eventually they were back to talking about other things that I cared significantly less about.

I must have fallen back asleep, because some time later Rapunzel was lightly shaking my shoulder to wake me. I opened my eyes to a dazzling smile. "Hi," I said, my voice groggy with sleep.

"Hi. Wanna come to bed?" She asked, followed by a wink. It took a moment for that to sink in, and suddenly I was very, very awake. I practically jumped off the couch, causing her to laugh cutely. We retreated to our room, saying a quick goodnight to the sisters before locking ourselves in. And well, I don't need to tell you what happened next.

We set off for Corona the following morning, not seasick in the slightest but both with a horrible case of the flu. We were conveniently quarantined from the guards and the rest of the crew, locked together into one bedroom. However, we were both too busy coughing and sniffling to have any fun at all. Rapunzel repeatedly blamed me between miserable coughs. Sure, we were sick, but my stupidity had worked, hadn't it?

We returned to Corona to a flurry of attention, not realizing that the frozen drama had brought us home two days later than planned. The king and queen had been worried sick, meeting us at the dock and hugging their daughter as if we had been missing for weeks. The best thing about our return to Corona? It was _warm_.

And then we lived happily ever after, blah blah blah, you know the drill.


End file.
